22 May 2023

Churches have been urged to support people living with HIV/AIDS.

Speaking at the Tonota Pentecostal Holiness Church Sunday service, HIV/AIDS activist, Ms Nono Simon said people living with HIV/AIDS, especially children were struggling to accept their status.

The service marked the International Candle Light day commemoration for people living with HIV/AIDS which is aimed at raising awareness on HIV/AIDS issues.

Ms Simon, who is also living with HIV/AIDS, said there were many children in Tonota living with the virus who needed  support, especially from churches..

She said that she was worried about   HIV/ AIDS new infections in Botswana, particularly amongst young people

Ms Simon further spoke against the discrimination of  people living with HIV/AIDS saying it would  defeat the country from  from achieving it’s national Vision of 2036.

“Non of us wanted to be infected with HIV but stigma and discrimination is viewed from that perspective. People should understand that infection comes in different ways, amongst others Gender Based Violence (GBV) and rape.”

She therefore, said the church was not spared from stigma and discrimination against people living with the virus.

Ms Simon urged the congregation to support people living with the virus as they needed support. 

Tonota Assistant District AIDS Coordinator, Ms Mpho Mashila concurred that district had a high number of people living with HIV/AIDS.

She said statistics indicate that HIV prevalence between the age of 0-14 years is 0.8 per cent, with males standing at 0.6 per  cent and females at 1.0 per cent.

Ms Mashila said the virus stood at 17.9 per cent between the ages of 14-49 whilst in 15-64 ages the prevalence stood at 20.8 per cent.

She explained that the numbers indicated that females were the mostly affected as they were the ones who sought medical help than their male counterparts. 

However, she said that Tonota District had made tremendous achievement in the fight against the scourge such as Prevention from Mother to Child Transmission, adding that the district stood at 100 per cent.

She also said there was a high number of teenage pregnancy in the district, especially amongst school going children. 

To this end, she said the district had registered 59 of such cases covering the ages of under 15 years.

Ms Mashila said most of these children were from the villages of Tonota and Borolong and three of them have tested positive.

Tonota Pentecostal Holiness Church, Bishop Reverend Robson Batsholele implored his congregation to love people living with HIV/AIDS.

He advised his congregation to shun discrimination against people living with the virus. END